November 2010

November has definately been gift knitting month. Not quite sure why I waited until now to knit a bunch of gifts for Christmas, but, I did and here it goes.

First I'll start with a finished project from last month. I was knitting the Comfy Cardi with Noro's Shirakba. Since the pattern is written for multi gauges, I wanted a sample in a heavier yarn than the original. I am very happy with the results and you'll be surprised to hear I like the color, haha.  I added a shawl pin (they are new at the shop) and tried it closed.  I like that too!


Now, gifts.  I am working on a couple of gifts that I can't talk about here, but I will take pictures and share them at the end of December.  I don't want to spoil any surprises.  But I can talk about a few things for people who won't see this.

I just finished up a Bag for a birthday gift actually.  It uses the Paper Bag pattern but is knit with Arucania's Pehuen.

Inspired by the handknit ties I saw in Italy, I wanted to knit my son a tie.  He liked the ones with triangles.  So, the search began.  The yarn for the ties I saw looked like a medium weight cotton.  Hmmm... I worry about cotton stretching in a tie and looking sloppy and medium weight seems heavy when it is tied. I really want to do fingering weight and more of a wool.  I look again at the picture and the tie has 3 colors.  Looking at my sock yarn I see three colors that will look good together, but 3 100gm skeins of sock yarn for 1 tie?  I won't even talk about how much this tie would have cost.  How can I get a similar effect with out 3 skeins of yarn.  I wandered around the shop for a while and spotted the popular multi directional scarf - hmmm, what it I use a self striping yarn and turn this into a tie?  - Done!  The pattern adjustments are available as a free download on Ravelry or at the shop.

I also decided a family member needs a sweater for Christmas (I won't mention who, just in case).  The very popular Kimono sweater would be nice.  And I decided to use Berroco's Lustra.  I was going to do it in brown and decided, just for the heck of it, I'll look at Ravelry and see what others have down with the sweater.  I have made one in a multi color, which turned out pretty, but I saw one there in two tones.  Why didn't I think of that?  Love the idea (and the sweater!)





A friend that I meet for coffee once a week was wearing this cute necklace one morning.  I complimented her and she showed it to me.  It was many strands of a ladder type yarn (such as Eros or Nocheros) chained and looped.  I can do that!!  So I did.  Super easy and another free pattern download on Ravelry or at the shop.




I almost forgot.  I have this very cute Snowball yarn from Sirdar at the shop and I finally got a sample knit up with it.  Too cute!!  Baby Snowball is combined with Baby Bamboo to make this adorable set.


Now I'd like to say I am almost done my Holiday knitting, but nope! 
My daughter requested a sweater.  So she will get one.  Knit with Berroco's Soft Twist, I am doing a V-neck variation on the Comfy Cardi.

And I am determined to finish the Socks I've been showing you glacial progress on forever.  They are still being knit with Berroco's Ultra Alpaca Fine and progress is being made!  My husband will enjoy them (or else!) because they feel amazing.

And one more... another sweater (I hope) I haven't started yet and I can't tell you who or what, but I will later.

I decided that at Spin A Yarn we should declare January "Me Month".  The gift are knitted, they have been worn and cherished by the recipient and now it time to knit something for you!  So, start thinking about what you want to knit next (I already have a few ideas in mind).  It will make the gift knitting go quicker and you will have something wonderful to look forward to knitting in the new year.

So, to each and everyone of you, I wish you a wonderful holiday season.  May you finish all your projects, enjoy your friends and family and take the time to sit back, if even for a minute and enjoy the love that surrounds you.  Happy, Happy Holidays (and Knitting), Nancy

October 2010

Whew, October blew by. The first two weeks I was busy knitting and the second two weeks I was busy traveling. (a little more about that later, I'll even try to relate it to knitting)

First the knitting and a few finished projects.  I finished the two sweaters started last month.  First a Swing Sweater made from Noro's Yuzen.  It think it's really cute.  It's hanging in the shop right now, but I am looking forward to wearing it. 

Next, I finished the double breasted cardigan from Twilley's Spirit.  I really like the way this turned out too.  The yarn is  DK weight wool and very nice to knit with.

Then a few other projects, I knit a quick scarf in School Colors for a friend who took a job with Kings College. This is knit with 2 strands of Berroco's Comfort. 

I decided I needed a small bag for my trip.  There is an adorable bag in the new book Entree to Entrelac. (as well as about 5 other projects that I'd like to knit.  You'll see more on that coming up soon, after the holiday knitting is done)  So, I reached into my stash (and the shop) and made this purse.  Isn't it cute?  I lined it and put a magnet in it to keep it closed.  It is made with Berroco's Suede and Sensuwool and Plymouth's Superwash Merino.  I know you are surprised at the color!

I also decided to remake a sweater I wasn't completely happy with before I left.  I remade it using the Comfy Cardi pattern and smaller needles.  The yarn is Flirt from Sirdar.  A wool and bamboo blend.  Now I'm happy.  I finished it the night before we left.  This is me wearing it on the top of the Domo in Florence, Italy.

Before I left I started another Comfy Cardi for the shop in a different yarn.  The pattern is written for different gauges and I thought another sample would be good.  Besides, I've been wanting to knit with this yarn  It is Shirakba by Noro.  It is mostly Cotton and Silk with a little wool.  I am not too far, but hopefully it will be done before long. 

I also took with me a few Christmas gifts to work on while I traveled.  Shhhhsh...  I will take pictures and show you in January.

Now, the traveling part of the month.  My son is in Italy for a semester and we went to visit him.  We also took a 7 day cruise while we were there to celebrate our 28th Anniversary.  We had a wonderful time and while we were wandering around Rome with my son, I saw a few knitting related sites I thought you might enjoy seeing.  I also have a few pictures of myself wearing some of my sweaters. (just to prove I really do wear them, they just don't hang in the shop.)

 

A Yarn Shop! (and bras)  Love her door handle.

 

Another yarn shop (and hosiery)  Is there a trend? Actually, when Lily Chin was here teaching for a guild weekend, she said all the yarn shops in Greece were in Lingerie stores.  Must be a European thing.

We walked past this window display - Handknit ties - Cool!  All in garter stitch. My son might be ordering a few.  I'll have to enlarge the picture to figure out what to do.

 Knits everywhere!

 

And finally, me wearing the Sweater knit with Superior to dinner and the Drawstring Top knit with Lonco for a day of touring. 

And that's it for October, on to November and some holiday knitting to get under control.  Until next month, Happy Knitting , Nancy

September 2010

September, I can't believe the month is gone already.  Seems like time is just flying by.  Oh well, on to the knitting. 

I finished the cute sweater knit with Lang's Tosca Light.  I knit it as a Child's size 6, but the pattern is written in Children's and Adult sizes.  This is great yarn.  It is a machine washable blend that has graduated colors.  The 100g skein has 440 yards (oh my!)

I also finished the sweater knit with Noro's new yarn, King.  This yarn is so pretty, I couldn't wait to knit with it.  It is fairly thin and could be a fingering or sport. It's an acrylic/silk/wool/mohair blend and I wanted what I made to have some drape. It has great yardage and would be perfect for a shawl, but I wanted to do something different than that; a sweater.  So keeping the drape issue in mind, I did a loose, drapey cardigan and I love the results.  I knit it at a slightly looser gauge than I normally would and made the front panels oversized and flowy (is that a word?).  Anyway, here it is and I have worn it and named it Comfy Cardi, because that is exactly what it is.  Since I loved this so much when I wore it, I also decided to write the pattern in multiple gauges, so you could easily make it with different yarns.

Now, a little story... this is why I carry more (3-4) projects than I can possible finish in a weekend when I go away. We went to our boat for a day, then to Rochester for the rest of the weekend in mid September. In my bag, I had the socks (since forever) on my very nice Darn Pretty Needles (colored wood needles), the lace shawl (about halfway up the border), and 2 unstarted sweaters. One I wanted to do for the yarn tasting in two weeks, the other was a ripped out sample that I was going to reknit into something else. 

Here’s how the weekend went. I thought maybe as well as the sweater I could get the lace stole done in time for the Yarn Tasting, so I worked on it all day Saturday . I got up to the corner and counted my repeats, hmmm, one more than I was supposed to have, oh well, keep going. Read the corner instructions, hmmmm, that’s a little confusing, I’ll set that aside and think about it while I start the sweater.

Pull out the yarn and the pattern… I don’t know, it doesn’t feel right. I was going to make the pattern in a smaller size (not mine) and thought maybe someday my daughter could wear it. She would not have picked out the pattern I did, so, I’ll wait until we see her tomorrow and see if she likes something else in the book.

Ok, let try the socks. One of my Darn Pretty Needles is broken, Oh No! I am bummed, I really like those needles, but not too upset that I don’t have to knit socks (haha!). So on to the last resort sweater. I got that started and it is going fine.

So the moral of the story is… always have a back up project (or two, or three..).

Just so you know how the story ends, I showed my daughter the book and she picked out a sweater “she’d wear”, but I don’t like it and don’t think it would make a great sample, so I started a different one altogether, maybe she’ll wear it, maybe not. And the lace stole, urg… I came home and read the book again, the corner instructions are right there, not where I was looking and so were the instructions telling me where to start the border (which I didn’t do), so I have ripped out the entire border and have to start again. It has been set aside for now, until I feel up to it. Patterns are so much easier when you read them right. You will hear about the lace stole again, after a little time has passed and I am over the pain of ripping.

So of 2 other sweaters I started, one is out of Noro's Yuzen.  This was a Sample Sweater that wasn't doing it's job (selling yarn), so I ripped it out and am knittng something much cuter with it. 

The other is out of a new yarn from Twilley's Spirit.  This one I wanted to get done in time for the Yarn Tasting, October 3.  Now I am going to whine for a minute... We had to cancel the Yarn Tasting due to lack of interest. I am very dissapointed, we have had so much fun at it the last 2 years and this year we only had a couple of people sign up.  I was pretty down all weekend about it, I guess I was frustrated.  Ok, done whining, back to knitting.  The sweater is not done yet, but will be in time for the almost-yarn tasting.

That's where I am at the end of September.  October will bring both of these sweater to a finish and a few holiday projects started and I want to make another Comfy Cardi in different yarn. I am sure a few more thing will add them selves to the finished and unfinished list.

Happy Knitting, Nancy

August 2010

August, I have to stop and think... yes, another busy month.  We moved my daughter to Rochester, so lots of drving back and forth; not much knitting.  And took my son to JFK airport for his semester in Rome; lots of knitting.  They are both off where they belong, so back to normal??!  What ever that is....

And knitting.  I finished the sweater from my stash ribbon and have worn it.  It is loosely based on the Parachutte Top in this summer's Vogue Knitting.  That top was basically two rectanlges sewn together. I wanted sleeves, but still the loose, drapey look of their top.  Because of the ribbon and the nature of the stitch pattern I wanted to keep seams to a minimum, so as I knit up the front, I cast on extra sts for the sleeves, bound off the neck, kept going over the shoulders, add the neck back in and bound off the sleeve sts and finished the back.  All in one piece, just side and underarm seams to sew. I love it, it feels slippery and drapey.  The yarn was (and still is :)) Tess Designer Yarn Microfiber Ribbon.  A treasure I picked up at Stitches about 10 years ago.

We got this crazy, wild yarn in called Flounce.  So a scarf was made.  6 sts, the yarn is making the ruffles, so much fun! 

Another new yarn, another new project.  Textured Cashmere from KFI.  It is a lovely sport weight cashmere that would be perfect for gloves, mittens, scarfs or sweaters.  So I made a vest.  Only 4 balls for my size.  A little lace and it feels..... well, like cashmere, ahhhh...

Anothere new yarn, another interesteing fiber.  Yak from Lang.  And of course another  project.  Just finished it this morning for you to see.  It is a cute shrug.  The yarn is yak and merino and I think it will be toasty warm.  It doesn't hurt that it's cute too.



That's it for finished projects.  We won't discuss the things on the needles that have fallen out of the line up for now (I'll give you my excuse:  It's fall, we are getting new yarns and I need to make samples...and ... I am easily distracted).  On my needles that will be finished by next month is a childs sweater (with adult sizes too) in Tosca Light, another new yarn from Lang.  I love the colors. 

As soon as that is done, another sweater will be coming along in a new yarn from Noro, King.   And then another....   Focus!

I'll let you know how all of this went in early October, talk to you soon.  Happy Knitting!  Nancy

July 2010

Whew, what a month.  Knitting had to fall to the back burner a bit this month.  We were busy finding my daughter an apartment in Rochester (for her new job, yea!!) and then moving her out of her old apartment and into her new one.  So between cleaning and driving (not riding) and shopping and moving, my knitting time was slightly curtailed.  But anyway, I managed to get a few things done (one finished just this morning, so you could see it).

I finished up the Kimono, knit with Plymouth's Mushishi.  It is a VERY easy sweater and looks great on everyone who has tried it on.  The yarn is a silk and wool combination with great colors.  Great TV or car knitting.

We got two new yarns in that I knit up scarves for.  The first is Flying Print from Filatura Di Crosa.  This I made into a "bubble" scarf with some increases and decreases.  It's fun! 



And the next is Evviva, also from Filatura Di Crosa.  This is just a simple garter stitch, but I changed colors halfway through, making for a funky scarf. 


Then I knit up the samples for the December Knit and Knibble.  The pattern says they are luggage tags, but I think they would also make great Gift tags. They are knit with sock yarn and the perfect way to use up little leftovers.

And last but not least, finished this morning in a rush so that I could take a picture and share it with you is the sweater I started last month with the beads.  It was inspired by and very loosely based on a cardigan in the last Knitter's magazine, but I changed it to a pullover, changed the pattern st count and added beads.  And I am very happy with it.  I used Blue Heron's Rayon Metallic, which has a hint of glitz and added beads.  The pattern is a little time consuming because you bind off and cast on 3 stitches every for rows, and of course add the bead.  But I think is will be really cute over a camisole.  This sweater is for me and will probably head home in a few days.


So, that's it for finished knitting.  I have also started a sweater with a ribbon yarn from my stash (too little done to even show you yet), the lace stole is still in the bag and was left untouched this month and new yarns are arriving so it it sample knitting time. 
Until next month, Happy Knitting, Nancy

June 2010

June must have been a busy month, my memory is a blur.  Ahh, yes, my son is back from college and my daughter is off coaching a swim camp, but needs to move to Rochester while she is away and I think I knitted somewhere in there, no wonder it's a blur.  Well on to the knitting...

I did finish the reknitted Tulip sweater as promised.  And I love it.  Tulips and Purple, some of my favorite things.  No wonder I was willing to reknit it.  It is hard to see here but the bottom panel is tulips with a lettuce edging.  Done and worn!

I also finished the Little Girls Jumper that I had started last month.  It is soooo cute.  It is kit with Noro's Kureyon Sock Yarn.  It can be knit with any fingering weight sock yarn.  You can see this jumper on display at the shop.

I also wanted to make a sample up using Plymouth's new Merino Superwash.  It is a wonderful worsted weight Merino that can me machine washed and dried.  So, using a Plymouth pattern for the yarn I knit this sweater featuring a pretty fair Isle pattern. The pattern shows a turtleneck, so I knit it with a plain crew neck to show how easy it is to change something like that about a pattern,

Now, this is where I got myself into a little bit of trouble  It is the season for new yarns to be arriving and for me to be knitting samples, but... new magazines came out and I saw some things I liked, well, liked but wanted to change.  So, there are a couple of things in the new Vogue Knitting that caught my eye, but I haven't started anything yet, so we'll talk about that later when I do.  But there was something in Knitter's that inspired me and that has been started.  I say inspired me because, it is a cardigan and mine is a pullover and I have altered the stitch pattern slightly to accommodate the beads that I added.  So it is just like the pattern in Knitter's, but different (haha).  I am not quite up to the armholes.  I am knitting it with Blue Heron's Rayon Metallic and adding beads.  It is beautiful and I hope to get it done this month. 

But I got waylayed by another sample.  This is an adorable A line Smocked Sweater knit with Plymouth's Happy Feet DK.  We are doing in class for this sweater in July and August so I wanted to get the sample done right away.  That is why the newsletter is a little late, I thought I could finish faster than I did.  So, last night it was finished and photographed this morning.  In the class we will adjust the pattern a little.  We will knit some of it in the round, learn about smocking and knit the sleeves from the top down.  Classes will be a few weeks apart giving everyone lots of time to knit in between.

The lace stole is still in progress, but was mostly ignored this month,  And last night I cast on for another sample.  This one is with a new yarn from Plymouth, Mushisi.  It is a silk and wool blend in a huge skein with 491 yards.  I am going to knit the Kimono sweater that is in the shop and has been extremely popular.  It should be beautiful in this yarn. 

And that's it for June, I will keep knitting my way through July.  I hope you do too (and have as much fun as I do)  Have a wonderful summer and Happy Knitting!  Until next month, Nancy

May 2010

May has been busy! Not sure how much I got done, but I have about 4 things on my needles that need finishing, not to mention the things in my head, that need to be started...

So, finished.  The Drawstring Sweater in Araucania's Lonco Multi - Done!  I am really happy with this, it turned out like the picture in my head, I love when that happens!  The yarn is a hand dyed fingering weight cotton.  It is knit in the round and the i-cord drawstring is knit in, no threading later!


I also started and finished a sweater in Noro's Kochoran.  I received this as a sample from the company and wasn't getting much interest in it, so I decided to rip it out and make something else with it.  I made a Chevron Stitch cardigan from the book "Knitting Noro".  I think it's cute (and it fits!)

Then, I knit a bead bracelet as a sample for June's Knit and Knibble.  Coincidentally, it matches my sweater.


Then, I received a newsletter from Plymouth asking shops to send in pictures of their shop and a free pattern and they will select a "Featured Shop" of the month in the next consumer newsletter. So, I got knitting and writing.  I sent pictures and a pattern for this a beaded Chemo hat.  And, I was selected as the "Featured Shop" for June.  So, if you go to http://www.plymouthyarn.com/ before June 1 and sign up for their newsletter you will see your favorite shop (Hopefully your favorite!, haha)

I think that's it for finished projects, now the unfinished and in progress.  I worked a little on the lace stole.  I finished the body of it and started the edging.  Still a long way to go, but a start. It is going to be amazing when it is done.  I keep saying I will stop everything and finish, but.....


I also have in progress and hope to finish this weekend, an old sweater that I ripped out and am reknitting.  I always loved this sweater, and rewrote the pattern and knit it to accommodate a larger size.  Well. luckily it hasn't fit for a few years, so since I loved it so much I ripped and am doing it again.  It has two of my favorite thing, purple and tulips.  I am on the sleeves and I promise you will see a finished sweater next month.

We receive an adorable little girl's dress/jumper in from Plymouth, so that too, is on the needles.  I am knitting it with Noro's Kureyon sock.  It will be cute and also finished soon!

So that's it.  I hope to get lots of knitting done this weekend.  Happy Knitting and see you next month.  Nancy